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, NTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES KLOSE, OF DONIPHAN, NEBRASKA,`AND ALOIS KLOSE, OF ROBE- SONIA,PENNSYLVANIA.

BRICK-MLN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 576,318, dated February2, 1897. Application filed February 27, 1896. Serial No. 581,048. (Nomodel.)

fo tu trito/2t t may, concern;

Be it known that we, CHARLES KLOSE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Doniphan, in the county of Hall and State of Nef braska,andALoIs KLOSE, a citizen of the German Empire, residing at Robesonia,in the county of Berks and State ofV Pennsylvania, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Brick-Kilns, of which the fol- 1o lowingis a speciiication.

This invention has reference to certain improvements in brick-kilns oi"that class which are based on the principle of a continuons downdraftand in which a continuous working is obtained by the successivecharging, drying, burning, cooling, and renewing of thc bricks in anumber of adjacent chambers, so that the burning of the bricks isaccelerated and a considerable Savin g of time, fuel, and

zo labor obtained.

Ourinvention consists of a brick-kiln which comprises a series ofchambers separated by register-vaults, said chambers being charged fromone end in the usual manner and pro- 2 5 vided with arched crowns havingtransverse openings and with floors having rows of aperturescommunicating with longitudinal bottom flues extending below thedifferent chambers. Above the register-vaults and in line 3o with thecrown-openings of the arched chambers are arranged transversedraft-fines having fire-brick combustion-floors, said transverse fluesbeing charged with fuel as required by the progress of the brick-burning3 5 operation. The transverse draft- Iiues are connected with each otherby longitudinal caloriducts, which communicate with the crownopeningsand are provided with charg- Aing-openings in their crowns, whichopenings are closed by caps fitting over said openings.

The transverse draft-nues are closed at one end by doors for givingaccess to said channels, while the oppositeend is connected by means ofcrown-openin gs with the main smoke-flue, that extends over saiddraft-fines,

` the openings in the smoke-flue being opened or closed by means ofdampers the rods of `which pass through the crown of the smokeilue andare operated from the outside of the 5o same. Vertically above thecenters of the openin gs in the crown-openin gs of the indivi dualchambers peep-holes and lids for covering them are arranged in top ofthe kilns, so

as to observe the progress of the burning operation. Registers arearranged in the longitudinal bottom flues of lthe kiln, which registersare operated from the transverse registervaults, in which are arrangedfuel-openf ings provided with thimbles and covers for y dropping thefuelinto-the bottom fines for 6o bottom firing. Dampers are arranged neareach draft-fine in the longitudinal caloriducts for regulating therebythe draft through the different chambers of the kiln, as required fordrying, burning, and cooling of the bricks.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a side elevation ofthe kiln with six chambers. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section ofthe same ou line 2 2, Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a plan view, partly inhorizontal sec- 7o tion, on line 3 3, Fig. 2. Fig. llis also ahorizontal section through the lower part of the kiln, taken on line fi4, Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section of a portion ofthe kiln, taken on the same line as Fig. 2, but drawn on a larger scale;and Figs. 6 and 7 are vertical transverse sections drawn on a largerscale and taken on lines 6 C and 7 7, Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre- '8o spondingparts.

Our improved brick-kiln with continuous downdraft can be arranged withany number of chambers, it being preferably made in the general shape ofan oblong in one or two rows, 8 5 so that a continuous firing can becarried on in regular succession through the different chambers of thekiln. In the drawings a series of six chambers are shown; but it isobvious that this number may be increased or 9c decreased at will,according to the required capacity of the plant.

The diiferent chambers A of 4the kiln. are provided with arched crownsand ioors having rows of openings a', which communicate 95 with bottomlues Z7 b below the floors, said lues extending longitudinallythroughout the entire length ofthe kiln. The arched crowns of theindividual chambers A are provided with transverse openings d, which arear- 10o ranged in line with parallel longitudinal caloriducts e,communicating with the same.

l peep-hole a2, which is provided with the usual thimble and lid, sothat the progress of the burning operation can be readily observed inthe different chambers of the kiln. Between the chambers A are arrangedpartition-walls of a sufficient strength for imparting the requiredstability to the entire kiln without the use of tie-rods, saidpartition-walls being provided with transverse arched register-vaults C,which are open at one end and closed at the opposite end. They serve forthe purpose of giving access to the rods of the registers b', which arearranged in the bottom fines h and by which the draft from one chamberto the other is controlled. ln the floor of the register-vaults C arefurther arranged fuel-openings bz, provided with. thimbles and lids, soas to permit the charging of fuel into the longitudinal bottom tiues bin case bottom firing should be necessary during the burning operation,according to the kind and quality of the bricks to be produced. The mainadvantage of the bottom fires is that they increase the hardness of thebricks in the lower courses. The bottom flues b can be readily cleanedof the ashes in the same by taking out seme of the floor-bricks of t-hechambers A and removing the ashes by raking or shov eling, after whichthe licor-bricks are replaced.

Vertically above the register-vaults C are arranged arched transverseflues D, which are provided at one end with hinged doors d and connectedat the opposite ends with openings d in the crown of the fiues, whichopenings communicate with an arched smoke-flue F, which extendslongitudinally along one side of the kiln above the ends of thetransverse flues D and communicates with the smoke-stack S, which isarranged at one end of the kiln. The draft-openings d are closed by dampers orbell-valvesf, which are raised o" lowered by damper-rods f', thatextend through the crown of the main smoke-flue F and are provided withhandles at their upper ends. The transverse fiues D are connected withthe crown-epenin gs a of the chambers A by longitudinal caloriducts e,which are separated from each other by intermediate walls, as shownclearly on the right-hand side of Fi The transverse d raft-li ues D arealso used as firingchambers in the successive burnin of the bricks inthevarious chambers, for which purpose they are charged with fuelthrough openin gs d2, provided with thimbles and lids, saidfuel-openings being located in the crown of the arched flues D. The fuelthus charged into said flues is burned on the firebrick floor of thedraftefiues above the trans1 verse flues D, it being instantly ignitedas soon as the highly-heated gases drawn from the chamber in which thelast charge of bricks has been burned are passed over the fuel, whilethe air necessary for combustion is drawn in through the ash-pits offireplaces E, located at the end of the kiln. The products of combustionare drawn through the crownopenin gs a of the adjacent chamber A indownward direction and through the openin gs in the floor into thebottom flues h b, the separating-register h being opened so that the hotgases can pass in upward direction through the floor-openings of thenext chamber and through the crown-openings CL to the caloriducts e,then through the transverse fiue D and smoke-flue F to the smoke-stacks.From the fioor cf each of the transverse fiues D extend inclinedash-chutes g into the registervaults C, so that the ashes can be readilydropped into an ash-barrel in the latter for removal. rlhe lower end ofthe ash-chutes g can be readily closed by means of paper or pasteboard,which is held in position by the suction exerted on the same. In eachcaloriduct c is located at one side 0f the transverse flues D a registerc, the rods e2 of' which are passed through the top of the kiln, saidregisters being raised er lowered as required by the draft to beproduced during the successive firing of the bricks in the differentchambers.

At the end of the kiln are arranged as many fireplaces E as there arecaloriducts e, which fireplaces serve for the purpose of firing thecharge in the first chamber A. Willen the charge in the first chamber Ais burned, the firing is interrupted in the fireplaces and all thefiring of the charges in the remaining chambers is accomplished in thetransverse tiues D by the fuel dropped into the same through thefuel-openings of the same. By the fires in the transverse flues D thecontinuous downdraft which was first supplied for the first chamberfromthe fireplaces E is kept up in succession through one chamber after theother, while the supply of air necessary for combustion is suppliedthrough the fireplaces and drawn through the caloriducts over the top ofthe chambers to the chamber in which the firing is in progress. The air,while being drawn through the caloriducts, is heated by contact with thehet walls of said ducts and produces thereby the coinplete combustion ofthe fuel. The heat emitted from the chambers over which the air passesin its course te the fires also assists in heating the air. At theopposite end of the kiln vertical channels e3 connect the longitudinalbottom fl ues i) h with a transverse draft-liuc D, which is connected inthe same manner with the main smoke-flue as the other draft-fines D.Vhen a second row or battery of chambers is arranged alongside of thefirst row, then the end chambers of the first row IOO IIO

are connected directly with the adjacent end chambers of the second row,so that the firing can be continued along said row until the lastchamber of the second row can be connected with the first chamber of thefirst row, so that thereby the continuous firing of the kiln can be keptup.

Our improved brick-kiln is operated as follows: Before the fire isstarted in the fireplaces at the end of the kiln the first and secondchambers of the same are charged with green bricks. The chargingbpeningsin the side wall or walls are then closed in the usual manner. The firesare then started in the fireplaces E at the end of the kiln, and thecharge of bricks in the first chamber is subjected to the action of thefires, the first set of registers e in the caloriducts c being closedand the first set of registers b in the bottom lues opened. The heat isdrawn through the charge and then conducted through the Hoor-openingsand bottom channels to the second chamber, and then in upward directionthrough the charge in the second chamber, and then through thecrown-openings of this chamber and the next transverse draft-flue D intothe smoke-stack, the next set of registers e being likewise closed andthe correspending valves or dampers f in the smokeflue opened, so as toproduce the proper course of the draft. The charge inthe second chamberA is heated by the surplus heat from the first chamber. In additionthereto .some of the other chambers can be charged with green bricks,and the heated products of combustion drawn' successively through thesame, so as to produce in the third chamber the warming of the brick andin the fourth chamber the so-called drying or wate1`smoking of the same.Then the bricks in the first chamber are burned, the charge in thesecond chamber is at red heat, the burning being then completed by thefires started in the first draft-fine D, the hot products of combustionbeing drawn from said fires in a downdraft through the charge in thesecond chamber, while the supply of air necessary for combust-ion isdrawn in through the fireplaces at the end of the kiln. The products ofcombustion from the top fires, after having been passed through thecharge, are then drawn through the Hoor-openings and bottom YIiue intothe next chamber in upward direction through the same, then in downwarddirectiou again to the third chamber, and so on, so that the heat of the'fires is fully utilized. The products of combustion are finally drawnoff through one of the transverse fines D and the smoke-flue to thechimney. During the burning of the charge in the second chamber the heatgiven off by the burned charge in the first chamber is drawn off andutilized in heating up the air drawn in through the fireplaces E and thecharges in the successive chambers, so that all the heat from a chargeof burned bricks in one chamber is utilized. The burned bricks in thefirst chamber are permitted to remainl in the same until they havecooled off, when they are removed from the same. One chamber after theother is thus fired in succession by the top firing, so that the finalfirin g of the charge of bricks is always produced by a continuousdowndraft. In a similar manner the fires are started in the bottomchannels, so that thereby the uniform burning of the bricks in the lowercourses of the next adjacent chamber is obtained. By the action of thetop fires on the charge of bricks in one chamber and the action of thebottom fires on the lower courses of the charge in the next followingchamber the uniform burning of all the courses of bricks in each chambercan be produced, while by the action of top firing alone the lowercourses, and especially the bricks in the lower courses of the chamber,would not be as uniformly burned as the bricks in the upper courses. Thebottom firing consequently forms an important auxiliary to the topfiring, as it gives thereby full control over the entire charge ofbricks in each chamber and produces a uniform product. The essentialfeature of our improved brickkiln conists in the arrangement of thetransverse draft-fines D, so that top firing with downdraft through theindividual chambers can be successfully carried out. The top 'iirlA ing,supplemented by the bottom firing for the next adjacent chambers and theutilization of the heat of the products of combustion in the. variouschambers of the kiln, furnish a number of advantages, namely:

First. A uniform quality of bricks is obtained by the successive top andbottom firing applied to one chamber after the other until fullyutilized in effective work.

Second. By the continuous working of the kiln from chamber to chamber nointerruption in the burning takes place, so that a larger quantity ofbricks can be made by a plant, the charging with green bricks takingplace in one chamber, the drying in thesecond, the ring in the third,the cooling in a fourth, the removing of the cooled-off brick from thefifth chamber, and so on, so that nearly all the chambers are inoperation.

Third. Owing to the almost complete utilization of the heat of the fueland the heating up of the air required for combustion in its way to thefires a considerable saving in fuel is obtained, while owing to thelocation of the fires above and below the chambers comparatively lessfuel is required for burning the bricks, as the heat of the fuel and ofthe burned bricks is utilized in kiln-drying and burning the bricks inthe adjacent chambers.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination of a series of archedchambers, each chamber being provided with crown-openings andHoor-openings, longitudinal bottom flues connecting the floor-openingsof the different chambers, longitudinal calori- IOO IIO

ducts extending above the crowns of said chambers and communicatingtherewith through said crown-openings, register-vaults between saidchambers provided with fuelopenings at the bottom for use in bottomiring, said openings establishing communication with the longitudinalbottom fines, transverse draft-fines located above the register-vaults,a main smoke-flue extending along the rear ends of the transversedraftfines, and dampers connecting said transverse draft-fines with themain smoke-flue, substantiallvv7 as set forth.

2. The combination of a series of chambers, provided with crown-openingsand rows of 4floor-openings, register-vaults located between saidchambers, and provided with fuelopenings and registers alongside of saidfuelopenings, longitudinal caloriducts extending above the crowns ofsaid chambers, registers in said caloriducts, transverse draft-fineslocated above the register-vaults and provided with fuel-openings, andash-chutes extending from the caloridncts into the register-vaults,substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a series of chambers, having crownopenings androws of flooropenings, longitudinal bottom flues connecting the floorsof the chambers, register-vaults between said chambers, longitudinalcaloriducts extending above the crowns of the chambers, transversedraft-nues located above said register-vaults, the bottom fines and thetransverse draft-flues being provided with fuel-openings for permittingthe starting of top and bottom fires, substantially as set forth.

4. rlhe combination of a series of chambers, having crown-openings androws of flooropenings, replaces arranged at one end of the kiln,longitudinal caloriducts connected with said fireplaces and\ extendingover the crowns of said chambers, registers in. said caloridncts,transverse draft-fines arranged intermediately between the crowns of thechambers and provided with top fuel-openings, fuel-openings in thefloors of the register-vaults, longitudinal bottom flues below thefloors of the chambers, registers in said bottom flues, a smoke-flueextending along one end of the transverse draft-fines, and dampers foropening or closing the openings connecting the draft-fines with thesmokelue, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our invention we have signedour names in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES KLOSE. ALOIS KLOSE. lllitiiesses:

PAUL GoEPnL, GEO. W. JAnKnL.

